Drowning in Dreams
by XXDancingxInxThexRainXX
Summary: One of Toph's not-so-good ideas leaves her at the mercy of her most hated enemy- water. This little earth bender can neither see or swim, she is at a decided disadvantage, turns out Zuko is a good man to have in a pinch, though. Update with Zuko's PoV!
1. Toph

**(A/N) Not mine. End of story. Written while I had a 104 degree fever, be kind? Review, pretty please :D Also- I take requests!**

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Toph Bei Fong was what one might call a connoisseur of earth, She's felt many kinds and variants of the substance, from the pulsating crystals of Ba Sing Sae to the gritty natural limestone only found in the desert.

And now, currently in the Fire Nation, the Blind Bandit had been privy to many kinds of earth previously unavailable to her in other regions. In fact, this particular beach boasted something quite interesting- a cove private enough to provide cover, very deep and lined with a peculiar mix of marble quartz and _diamond_.

At least, that's what Toph had been told. His amazing substance was only available at the bottom of the very deep, very water filled cove. To the other members of the gaang, this wasn't so bad- they could see it simply by swimming to the bottom. But for Toph, who could neither see _or_ swim, this problem proved itself to be quite bothersome.

Normally, the raven-haired girl would have shrugged this off as bad luck- but there were just _so many diamonds_. Oh, don't misconstrue that, the monetary value of the rough gems had nothing to do with Toph's great interest, rather the vibrative quality they possessed. Diamonds, more so than any other substance on earth resonated with the vibrations of things around them. Chi has a way of ferreting out the purist substance in which it can react with, and you just can't get much purer than diamonds.

So, taking this in to consideration, a person would logically conclude that one Toph Bei Fong would be able to 'see' uncommonly well when standing on diamond. Which could very well be true, only Toph had never tested that theory out. Hey, even the Bei Fong's didn't have _that_ kind of money.

So, in Toph's mind, this was an opportunity that could not be missed. She had thought of several different ways to get her dirt-encrusted toesies on top of all that precious marble. The first- and probably most improbable- was to convince Twinkles and Sugarqueen to bend the water out of her way. That wouldn't work because of the vast quantity of the bothersome liquid- that and the fact that Sugarqueen was in a particularly pissy mood at the moment.. The second idea was to bend the rock up to Toph- but that water issue reared its ugly head again- even being the greatest earth bender in the world _and_ having Twinkle's help wouldn't do much good; the friction caused by the amount of water would prove the task impossible. Even that little bit of bending Toph did at the Serpents Pass was harder than she expected.

So, after eliminating the impossible, Toph was left with only one idea- if she couldn't bring the earth to her, she'd bring herself to the earth! Even if she couldn't swim, Toph could hold her breath for an uncommonly long time, and she'd always heard of earth bender's using their skill to walk on the bottom of the ocean, this couldn't be _that _different! This information is what led Toph to where she would soon feel to be a _very _bad position.

The petite earth bender had waited until the rest of the group left the cove (going to some fancy tea party or something, feh.) before stripping down to her wrappings, and gingerly easing her way into the shockingly cold water. It shouldn't be so hard to get to the center of the pond, if Toph just bended her way across the bottom. Soon enough, she proved herself correct.

Only, by the time Toph had gotten into a position where she could feel the diamonds resonating beneath her, she had used up most of her stores of oxygen. In fact, the uncomfortable pressing sensation on her chest had built up to a level where she couldn't even enjoy the 'sights' around her (which were rather anti-climactic. Some trash here, a rock there… very disappointing. But really, what did Toph expect, Atlantis? She was on the floor of a rock cove, anyone else probably would have realized this before getting themselves stuck in a like situation.)

So, now our dear little Toph had a problem at hand- how would she get the hell out of this death trap in relatively one piece?

Toph's mind raced, she bended the marble away from her feet. So what if she didn't know how to swim? Now was a perfect time to learn. As the diamond-speckled quartz let go of Toph and her toes left the ground, her mind went numb with panic. Now she truly _was_ blind. She felt herself floating (where she assumed to be) up. Fear paralyzed her limbs and Toph's lips parted, she felt the pressure that had built up in her lungs release, and in its place icy water wormed its way in.

Well, if this was how Toph was going to die, then so be it. At least she wasn't burning alive or something else gruesome like that. Although she really would have rathered an honorable death in battle…

As these thoughts drifted in and out of Toph's quickly diminishing consciousness, she faintly registered strong arms encircle her waist and lips pressing against her own. Air filled her lungs, mingling uncomfortable with the strangling liquid that was already there.

The arms pulled her close to a warm torso, she felt her savior kicking them both to the surface. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Toph realized that this person _had_ to be Sparky. Shoulders too broad to be Twinkles, a striking lack of breasts, so Sugarqueen was out, and much to muscular to be Snoozles. So, Princess Zuko was the only one left. _Odd,_ thought Toph, _what is he doing back here?_ One thing the drowning have in common; illogical thought process.

Not fully unconscious, Toph felt the water break and Zuko pulling her up on to solid ground.

"What the _hell,_" he growled, holding Toph's nose and breathing into her limp mouth, "were you thinking," he continued, after breaking off to press on her chest. His breath came in ragged gasps, a steady pattern of inhale, growl, exhale, inhale, yell, exhale.

"Stay with me Toph. _Come on._" Zuko pressed his lips against the blind girl's one last time, forcing more air in to her. "_Toph!_" Zuko's frantic pressing died down, his huffing stilled and silence fell upon them. Toph felt him punch the ground next to them with a force she's never experienced from him before.

Toph could feel the water coming up (thankfully), she turned her head away from Sparky and coughed up more water than she'd thought possible. Toph would _never_ step foot in another body of water for as long as she _lived_.

"Oh spirits, thank you…" Zuko breathed, wrenching his fist out of the ground. He gently shifted Toph on to her side, rubbing her back as she choked out what felt to be gallons of the offending liquid.

"You could have killed yourself, you moron," Zuko grumbled, sounding more concerned than angry. One strong hand on the younger girl's back helped her in to a sitting position. Toph nodded, for once acknowledging the absolute _idiocy_ of what she'd just attempted. If it hadn't been for Sparky, she'd be a goner. "I'm sorry," she murmured, quite uncharacteristically- Zuko gaped. This was obviously not the reaction he'd expected from her. Yelling at him, yeah, a grateful punch, maybe, but an apology? No way.

"Er, Toph? Are you feeling alright?" Zuko blinked, highly confused. Toph's sightless eyes gazed up at the space she assumed to be Zuko's face. A Cheshire-like grin found its way on to the pale girl's face, "Just fine," answered she, punching her savior with considerably more force than was necessary.

Having seemingly regained her senses, Toph used Sparky's decidedly bare shoulder to hoist herself up.

"Hey Princess, make me some tea." The blind girl ordered, grabbing her neglected clothes and shrugging them on, despite being soaking wet.

"Sure thing," Zuko's strangled voice sounded out. He stood, casting a glance back at the impatient earth bender.

Oh _yes_, she knew what she did to him.


	2. Zuko

**(A/N) So here's the last installment of 'Drowning in Dreams'. I decided to make this a little more wordy and awkward, just because that's how I picture Zuko's inner monologue as being- a socially inept sixteen year old boy. Any how, this is it, I will not be updating _this_ story an more, though I may elaborate upon it at a later date. Please review, and I _do take requests!_ Just mention what you want in a review and I'll get right on it, kay? As usual, chracters are not mine.**

**Enjoy!**

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Despite the many hours of 'bonding' Prince Zuko had invested in getting the gaang to like him- or at the very least hate him a little bit less- the only one that seem to accept him was one earth bending master, Toph Bei Fong. So, when Zuko received the invitation to join the rest of the group for tea, the young fire bender jumped at the chance to buddy up with everyone else. Things weren't _all_ bad, Aang seemed to like him okay, Sokka was more or less apathetic about the whole situation- Katara, on the other hand, outright despised him. It had been Aang who suggested Zuko come along, most likely in the misguided attempt to get the resident water bender to take more of a liking to the fiery youth. Zuko, however, knew that it would take more than an afternoon of tea to win over the water-tribe girl... but he might as well try.

The young man's efforts, however, proved to be inadequate. Toph had decided to stay 'home', and without her to provide the normal cushion between himself and Katara, flames (metaphorically) flew. Barely five minutes of insult filled torture passed before the raven-haired royal decided to ditch the tea party and just have lunch with Toph, like he normally did. Better stick with routine rather than upset the balance (balance referring to, of course, that of his head upon his shoulders- a precarious relationship that was sure to be ended swiftly if he missteped around an angry Katara.)

And so, Zuko turned tail and moseyed on back to the cove where he had left the noisy girl he had come to call 'friend'. Zuko did enjoy his private musings, having so little time to accomplish them now-a-days, and his thoughts at present were directed at the aforementioned friend. It seemed odd, Zuko pondered, that the onyx-haired beauty had accepted him so readily while everyone else was still on guard. Well, perhaps not _that_ strange, considering the fact that she was the last of the group to join (excluding himself, of course) and had therefore been spared from the bulk of his wrong doings… regardless, it was nice to have an ally among what he still considered to be an antagonistic camp.

Zuko shook these less-than-pleasant thoughts from his head as he reached the gaang's current hide-away, a nice, spacious, private cove. The prince ducked to enter the smallish hole that had substituted for a door, scraping his head a little on the way in… he was _far_ to tall for this.

Upon entering the strangely quiet cove, Zuko cocked his still aching head in confusion- Toph was supposed to be here. Making his way further in to the damp recesses of the cove, Zuko noticed a pile of dirt-encrusted green garments… _definitely_ Toph's. _So, what, is she running around naked?_ A light blush made its way on to the slightly prudish teen's cheeks, warming his otherwise deathly pallor.

Creeping over to the edge of the crystal clear water, the young fire bender peered down in to its depths- he could just barely make out the quickly diminishing figure of his little earth bender.

"You never fail to impress me, Toph," Zuko chuckled under his breath, "I didn't know the blind could swim." He shook his head disbelievingly before sauntering over to his knapsack to dig out some tea leaves.

Now, when Toph was under for one minute, Zuko was impressed with how long she could hold her breath- two minutes he was concerned- three minutes and he was stripping as fast as he could to jump in and save her.

The water hit Zuko, cold, like a million pins and needles all over his body. After the first momentary paralyzation, the fire bender regained control of his limbs and kicked frantically to the bottom of the not-so-shallow cove. Zuko caught sight of Toph, her feet were held down by the marble floor of the cove. He watched in horror as the pale girl bended the marble away from her feet, a look of panic crossed her delicate features before a burst of air left her lips- bubbles floated up to the surface and Toph's body went slack.

Frenziedly, Zuko swam over to the earth bender, enveloping her slight body in his firm grasp. He gently pressed his lips against her own, forcing air back in to her lungs. Zuko pulled back, Toph's dazed countenance was drifting further and further away by the second. The panicking prince clutched his prize to his chest as he fought his way back up to the surface. Zuko had always been a strong swimmer, but then again, the last time he went swimming was months ago on that god awful 'vacation' he had taken with Azula. Despairing his quickly depleting oxygen, Zuko barely managed the last few yards to the edge of the water.

After what seemed like an eternity, the young royal dragged himself and his limp companion out of the chilly water. He lay her down, checked her breathing… and found none.

"What the _hell,_" Zuko held Toph's nose, hoping he remembered how to do this- he forced air into her mouth, drawing back to press firmly on her chest. "Were you thinking," he continued, completely disjointed from the fury present in his previous tone. Zuko fell in to a steady rhythm of breathing, pressing, cursing and breathing again.

"Stay with me Toph. _Come on._" Zuko growled, he pressed his lips over Toph's pale ones. "_Toph."_ The youth chocked on a half sob, half gasp. Slowly, the frantic rhythm died down and a blanket of despair fell over the youth. An angry snarl rumbled from his chest, he punched the marble next to him, leaving his fist embedded an inch in the cove floor.

A quiet coughing came from Toph, alerting Zuko. Water gushed from her slightly parted lips, "Oh spirits, thank you…" Zuko murmured, wrenching his fist from its spot in the rock. As gently as he could, Zuko shifted the young girl onto her side, rubbing her back as she coughed up water- much more than he thought possible for such a small body.

Zuko tried not to notice that Toph was clad only in her _white _wrappings, tried not to pay attention to the soft curves that had developed under her silky soft skin pale as moonlight and just as mystifying. Above all, Zuko ignored how very _transparent_ Toph's curent clothing was, and how very cold it seemed to be in the little cove. The young man blushed heavily, averting his eyes.

Zuko's careful hands stayed on the younger girl's back, long after she had cleared her lungs. "You could have killed yourself, you moron," the Prince grumbled, helping the blind girl sit up. She nodded, her cloudy eyes inexplicably found his own. "I'm sorry," she answered, completely out of character with her usual gruff demeanor Zuko was shocked in to silence at her confession of guilt.

"Er, Toph? Are you feeling alright?" Golden eyes blinked, puzzled at this show of humility. The pale beauty grinned up at Zuko, "Just fine." She punched her savior, harder than her normal 'thank you' blows. Feeling only slightly victimized, Zuko winced, rubbing his shoulder.

Toph put one small hand on Zuko's broad shoulder, using his support to hoist herself up. She stayed still for a moment, steadying herself before drawing back the appendage and turning smoothly on her heel.

"Hey princess, make me some tea," Toph commanded as she sauntered over to her clothes.

Zuko paid no mind to the slight sway of newly developed hips that were all but hidden under her clothing, nor did he notice the way the setting sun provided the perfect light against her skin still slick with droplets of water.

"Sure thing," Zuko jerked himself out of his hormone-induced stupor, decidedly looking the other way as the slim figure before him bent down deliberately to pick up her discarded garments.

_That girl will give me a heart attack before I'm twenty._


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